Airlines
Jittery fliers to foot the bill for airline recovery
FLYING is never ever going to be the same again. Now fliers have to not only cope with the increased fear of flying but also shell out more to feed their fears.

Govt may finalise sops for aviation sector soon
THE Government is likely to finalise a set of measures to assist the aviation sector in meeting the insurance liabilities arising out of the recent hike in reinsurance and third party insurance rates.

Panel to review norms for small aircraft operations
THE Government has set up a three-member committee to review the systems and procedures for acquisition, maintenance and operation of small aircraft seating up to 10 people.

Jet Airways to woo fliers from abroad
THE domestic carrier Jet Airways is looking to boost its percentage of overseas traffic through a systematic expansion of its domestic network and introducing value-added services for its international clientele, an airline official said.

Automobiles
Bajaj Auto H1 sales up 1.6%
MUMBAI: Bajaj Auto Ltd has reported a 1.6 per cent increase in its total two-wheeler sales for the first half of 2001-2002 to 5,59,852 units as compared to 5,51,157 units in the year-ago period.

Samkrg finds place in Honda Motors stable
SAMKRG Pistons and Rings Ltd (SPRL), the city-based Rs 55-crore automobile accessories company, announced on Monday that it has entered into a supply agreement with Honda Motorcycles and Scooter India (P) Ltd, an Indian subsidiary of the Japanese automob ile major -- Honda Motors.

Hero Honda revs up
HERO Honda Motors Ltd today said it sold 1,18,286 motorcycles in September, significantly higher than 108,369 vehicles sold in August.

Sept blues hit GM as sales drive South
GENERAL Motors India Ltd (GM) today said its September car sales dipped to 800 from 950 in August, as large number of customers in the northern region stayed away from purchases.

Honda Siel sales up
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd said its sales for September were 1,149 cars, much higher than the 913 cars sold in August. The company did not provide the break up of sales between the City sedan and the recently introduced Accord luxury car.

Kinetic launches Lunar upgrades
KINETIC Engineering Ltd. has said it has launched two upgraded versions of its popular moped `Luna', which are more powerful than its existing variants.

Sundaram Motors set to enter used car business
SUNDARAM Motors, a part of T.V. Sundaram Iyengar & Sons Ltd, is all set to enter the pre-owned or used car business.

Cement
Lack of serious bidders -- Mysore Cements' plans to sell units hit roadblock
THE ailing S.K. Birla group company Mysore Cements Ltd's plan to sell off its plants at Jhansi, Damoh and Narsingarh has hit a roadblock in the absence of serious bidders, market sources said. Moreover, a slowing economy could ``seriously delay'' the sel l-off plan as foreign infrastructure investors are seen shying away from the sector, analysts said.

Commodities
Still time to revise palm oil tariff values
AFTER the August 3 imposition of tariff value on palm oils, overseas markets have eased considerably. Indeed, over the last six weeks, refined palmolein has lost about $100 a tonne, so has crude palm oil.

Global cotton output seen at record 21 m tonnes
WORLD cotton production is seen rising to a record of almost 21 million tonnes (mt) in 2001-02, even though international cotton prices were considerably below the long-term average during the past three seasons.

Corporate
Bata declares lockout at Peenya unit
BATA India Ltd has declared a lockout at the company's Peenya factory in Karnataka. The Bombay and Calcutta stock exchanges have also been informed in this regard.

ITW Signode open offer begin
THE open offer by the US-based Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Inc. to buy out the 49 per cent public holding in its Indian subsidiary ITW Signode opened on Monday, a company statement said.

IVR Enviro to open new facility today
IVR Enviro Projects (P) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Ltd, would be opening its fully mechanised municipal solid waste recovery and recycling facility at Tiruppur on Tuesday.

`IOC entry important for Haldia Petro'
THE entry of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) was important for Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL), which is now facing cash flow problems due to its unplanned debt burden, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, has said.

Improving availability of brand products -- Calchem parent mulls contract-manufacture
AS part of the strategy to increase the volume of its Margo brand soap and skincare products and Neem toothpaste, Calcutta Chemical Co Ltd's (Calchem) parent, Henkel SPIC India Ltd (HSIL), is actively considering outsourcing these products through contra ct-manufacturing.

What Levers' offer for Rossell stake means
THE open offer announced by Levers on September 26 for acquiring the balance 10.38 per cent shares of Rossell Industries Ltd lends itself to several interpretations.

Ceramic tile units seek excise relief
THE ceramic tiles sector has sought excise exemption on ceramic glazed tiles manufactured out of waste material such as fly ash, red mud, phospho-gypsum or blast furnace slag, in keeping with the changes to the Central Excise Rules.

Gowrishankar is new Titan Chairman
BANGALORE: Mr M.A. Gowrishankar, Industries Department Secretary, Tamil Nadu, is the new Chairman of Titan Industries Ltd. This follows Mr A.L. Mudaliar's decision to step down from the post after nearly 14 years.

German Remedies gets new chief
AHMEDABAD: The board of directors of German Remedies on Monday elected Mr Pankaj R. Patel as its Chairman. This follows the recent demise of Mr Ramanbhai B. Patel who had taken over as the chairman in the post takeover reshuffle of the board by Zydus Cad ila. The board also appointed Mr J.C. Jani as the Managing Director of German Remedies.

RCF eyes stake in HOC
RASHTRIYA Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd (RCF) is interested in acquiring the Government stake in Hindustan Organic Chemicals.

Agro Tech transfers Mantralayam staff
AGRO Tech Foods Ltd (AFTL), a subsidiary of ConAgra Inc of USA, has transferred all its 120 permanent employees working at the ITC's integrated oil processing unit at Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh following suspension of operations at the plant.

Tata Steel exercises call option on NCBs
TATA Iron and Steel Company Ltd (TISCO) has exercised the call option on the Rs 500-crore secured redeemable non-convertible bonds issued by the company in 1996, as part of its debt recast strategy.

DCA amends deposit rules
THE Union Government has nominated the Regional Director (RD) of the Department of Company Affairs (DCA) as the authorised officer for making complaints under Section 58AAA (2) of the Companies Act, 1956 against offences arising out of acceptance of depo sits under Section 58A or Section 58AA of the Act.

Coke-Pepsi spat: HC admits Pepsi appeal
THERE definitely is more to come on trademark spat between Pepsi Foods Ltd and Coca Cola India. A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court on Monday admitted Pepsi's appeal against the single bench order issued late last month.

Economy
Economy is the key
THE RECENT ban on the Students' Islamic Movement of India was necessitated by allegations (probably backed by concrete evidence) of links between the organisation and outfits and individuals answering to the description of terrorist. Going by this yardst ick, the Government's action cannot but be supported, particularly now when Washington's war against the Taliban movement in Afghanistan has reached a crescendo.

Tourism no longer a net forex earner
TOURISM used to be a net foreign exchange earner. No more. Figures released by the Reserve Bank of India show that Indians travelling abroad spent more during April-June 2001 than those tourists visiting India. This $6-million deficit for the quarter rev erses the usual tale of surpluses that tourism has meant for the country's balance of payments. In 1997-98, the surplus was $1.4 billion.

Bogus brick kilns to be weeded out
The Government will try to weed out the non-genuine coal users who are listed as brick kilns before it considers the proposal raised by the All-India Brick and Tile Manufacturers' Federation (AIBTMA) for coal at concessional rates.

More social security schemes on the anvil
SPEAKING at a national conference here on Monday on `Social security for the unorganised sector', the Union Labour Minister, Mr Sharad Yadav, said, as a beginning, the Government had launched the Krishi Shramik Suraksha Yojana in July this year, in co-op eration with LIC, to provide life-cum-accident cover and pension benefits for agricultural labour.

Trade balance widens sharply; Q1 deficit up at $3,732 m
THE country's trade balance has widened sharply with the deficit increasing to $3,732 million in the quarter April-June 2001 from $2,325 million during January-March 2001, according to figures released by the Reserve Bank of India.

Duty on feedstock inputs opposed
THE demand by two leading pharma companies to impose anti-dumping duty on inputs used in animal feedstock is being opposed by the user-industry.

Reforms, for whom?
`Reforms a disappointment', (Business Line, September 28), perhaps, reflects the feelings of millions of the poor in this country. It is a fact that reforms have widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

Editorial
Prescription for India Inc
A POLL by the Confederation of Indian Industry released over the weekend, confirms the of anecdotal evidence of despondency that hangs over India Inc: corporate chiefs believe recovery can be expected only beyond 2002. Undoubtedly, the gloom is global. T he spate of announcements of layoffs and profit warnings in the US started in the airline and hospitality industries but has quickly has spread to other sectors of that country's economy. That bearish outlook has been mirroed in Europe as well.

Education
ICAI chalks out business plan
THE Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is working on ``a business plan for vision'' for its members. It covers a five-year perspective plan, implementation milestones and a monitoring and reporting mechanism.

Engineering
Engg exports register negative growth in QI
ENGINEERING exports have suffered a major setback during the first three months of the current financial year, registering a negative growth of 5.8 per cent (in dollar terms) against a record 30.4 per cent growth ($ 5.96 billion) in 2000-2001.

Export Watch
Export growth falters
CONTINUING its downtrend, the country's exports during the first five months of the current fiscal (April to August) registered a decline of 2.30 per cent at $ 17,133.85 million, against $17537.57 million in the corresponding months of last fiscal.

Fast track
Open offers send positive signals
THE stock markets have been quite volatile for the past two weeks following the US attacks. The attacks sent shock waves throughout the world and stock markets across the globe took a heavy beating.

Financial Performance
OIL posts 14 pc rise in net
OIL India Ltd (OIL) has posted a net profit of Rs 467.36 crore for the year 2000-2001, registering an increase of 14.06 per cent over the previous year.

Food & Dairy Products
Tripura pine apple farmers to use SITRA know-how
A TRIBAL women group from Tripura's pineapple growing tracts is to put to use the technical back-up and training received from the South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) for commercial exploitation of pine apple leaf fibre (PALF).

Hotels
Indian Hotels forms air catering joint venture
INDIAN Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) has signed a Business Transfer Agreement and a Shareholders' Agreement with Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd (SATS), to form a new joint venture company, TAJ SATS Air Catering Ltd to handle IHCL's air catering busi ness.

Infrastructure
`Highway project on schedule'
THE work on the National Highways Development Project is going on as per schedule and the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata will be substantially completed by December 2003.

Miscellaneous
Old world charm
Eighty-one-old Patsy Locke celebrates World Elders' Day with a tram ride in Kolkata on Monday, The yatra, organised by HelpAge, brought together more than 70 elders from various old-age homes.

Petroleum
IOC Guwahati unit to focus on quality
WITH the gradual withdrawal of Government control on petroleum, the Guwahati refinery of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), has drawn up strategies and action plans to meet the challenges arising from an open market.

Oil cos slash product prices
PUBLIC sector oil companies have slashed prices of naphtha, furnace oil and low sulphur heavy stock (LSHS) for fertiliser units, with effect from October 1.

GAIL pays Rs 227.8 cr dividend to Govt
GAS Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has paid a dividend of Rs 227.8 crore to the Government for 2000-01. This corresponds to 40 per cent of the Government equity at Rs 569.5 crore.

Pharmaceuticals
New office-bearers for drug body
HYDERABAD: The Bulk Drugs Manufacturers Association (BDMA) has announced the new office-bearers for 2001-02.

Dental care expo in Singapore
MUMBAI: Some of the herbal dental products produced in India will be introduced for the first time along with other Indian dental products at the International Dental Exhibition and Meeting (IDEM) to be held in Singapore during April 12-14, 2002.

Dr. Reddy's gets Drug Controller's nod for Grastim
DR Reddy's Laboratories Ltd's product insert of its human recombinant granulocyte colony stimulating factor -- Filgrastim injection (Grastim), an anti-cancer formulation -- has got approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI).

Plantations
Coffee Board Chairperson is new ICC chief
THE Coffee Board Chairperson, Ms Lakshmi Venkatachalam, has been elected as the Chairperson of the International Coffee Council in London for a period of one year from September 2001 to 2002.

Politics
The man to emulate
IN THE untimely demise of Madhavrao Scindia, the country has lost a political leader of commendable dynamism and vision. Madhavrao belonged to a rare breed of politicians who combined high qualifications of birth, education and upbringing and ab ove all, a clean personal life and total probity in public life.

Ritual wash
The apostle of peace and non-violence gets his ritual wash on the eve of his birthday. This statue of the Mahatma is at a busy intersection in the Capital.

Loss to the nation
It is unfortunate not only for the Congress but for the entire nation to lose an eminent leader like Madhav Rao Scindhia in such a tragic manner. It was not much long ago that we lost Rajesh Pilot. Both were good parliamentarians and debaters. It is sure ly a loss to Parliament and politics, on the whole.

Power
NLC, Chennai Petro game for fuel pact proposal
NEYVELI Lignite Corporation (NLC) has suggested that if Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd (CPCL) signs a fuel supply agreement (FSA) for the supply of refinery residue, it (NLC) will put up the power project on its own.

States
British info centre opened in Guwahati
THE British Deputy High Commissioner to Eastern India, Dr John Mitchiner, formally opened a fully-computerised online information centre here which the Deputy High Commission, Kolkata, set up in partnership with the North-East Chamber of Commerce and Ind ustry (NECCI).

TN keen to rope in IDFC for Tidel park phase II
THE Tamil Nadu Government is keen to rope in the Infrastructure Development Finance Co Ltd (IDFC) in the second phase of the Tidel software park in Chennai.

AP takes up Rs 482-cr rural electrification scheme
WHILE announcing a series of measures to streamline the functioning of the power sector, which includes rationalisation of compounding fees, the Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to take up a Rs 482-crore rural electrification project to electrify 1 5,000 unelectrified hamlets in the State.

Chennai Corpn not able to implement plastic ban deadline
THE Chennai Corporation has been unable to implement its October 1 deadline for banning the use of disposable plastic products, since it does not have the requisite powers under the Municipal Corporation Act.

RTDC to sign MoU with AP tourism board
THE Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (RTDC) will soon sign an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation for the promotion of tourism in both States, Mr Rajiv Arora, Chairman of RTDC, said here on Monday.

Stocks
To bounce back from last year's setback -- SHCIL pins hopes on product distribution
STOCK Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL), the largest depository participant in the country which suffered a setback in profits despite a growth in turnover during last fiscal, hopes to better its performance during the current fiscal with the help of distribution of Government of India relief bonds and other financial products to its captive base of 6.5 lakh individual investors.

IPO market in limbo
ONLY two IPOs have been made for raising Rs 6 crore in the six-month period of the current fiscal, according to Mr Prithvi Haldea, Managing Director of Prime Database. Even the two IPOs were aimed more at obtaining listing and not directed at generating any response from the investors.

Negative tech mood takes stock of market
AFTER recording gains for three days during last week, the stock markets on Monday closed lower than the previous close. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex lost 16.30 points and ended at 2795.30 points. At the National Stock Exchange, the broader 5 0 share S&P CNX Nifty was down marginally by o.41 per cent to 910.10 points.

Narrow band in Lyons Range
THE Calcutta Stock Exchange saw the scrips of ACC, Pentamedia Graphics and SSI Ltd weaken on Monday. But the counters of ITC, NIIT and SBI improved on buying interest.

Margin trading
According to a recent report, margin trading in equities has been allowed. In this arrangement, the banks will provide 60 per cent of the investment against 40 per cent to be brought in by a broker to buy equity. The shares are held by the banks as suret ies. While the arrangement will provide brokers much-needed liquidity to increase the quantum of scrips and profits, there is the inherent danger of the bank losing heavily should a crash occur and share prices fall steeply.

Sugar
Sugar output may dip to 165 lakh t
WITH the Agriculture Ministry anticipating a 20-million tonne fall in sugarcane production to around 280 million this year, the country's sugar output is expected to register a decline in the 2001-02 crushing season (October-September), following three c onsecutive years of increase.

Revised bid process for Nizam Sugar units
THE Cabinet sub-committee, appointed by the Andhra Pradesh Government, has approved a revised bidding process for the sale of four unsold units of the State-owned Nizam Sugars Ltd. The sale is based on what the Government describes as a new competitive b idding version opposed to earlier `Swiss Challenge' method.

Technical Analysis
Marginal loss
MONDAY'S trading activity witnessed a narrow movement. Bears managed to gain marginally from the day's trading. The intra-day movement in the Nifty was around 14 points. It closed with a marginal loss of about four points. The market sentiment readin g of the tradable counters stands slightly in favour of the bulls.

Technology
Genes tell the tall and bald stories
IT'S all in the genes. This oft-repeated phrase seems tantalisingly real, with scientists beginning to unlock genetic secrets that determine the characteristics of the homosapien.

Textiles
Rationale for protection
THE handloom sector is the only non-agricultural, commodity-producing sector (other than perhaps the manufacture of beedis) that employs a huge number of workers and yet is dispersed in rural and semi-urban areas. Even as per the last available Handloom Census dating back to 1987-88, India's handloom weaving sector provided employment to 2.2 million full-time and 2.1 million part-time workers. This compares with, the 7.4 million workers who were employed in the formal private sector in all activities ou tside of agriculture and the 4.4 million employed in the formal manufacturing sector as of March 31, 1988.

In defence of handlooms
IN SEPTEMBER, Hyderabad was the location for an unusual conference organised by Dastkar Andhra, a non-governmental organisation working with handloom weavers. It brought together a group of intellectuals, NGO activists, policy-makers and an extremely art iculate group of weavers organised under the A.P. Cheneta Karmika Samakya. The debate that ensued focused on the crisis facing the sector and the resulting question raised in some quarters: Barring exceptions in the form of looms catering to `niche' mark ets, is it not inevitable that this sector would wither away through attrition?

Travel & Places
Travel agencies in the doldrums
TRAVEL agencies in India and maybe in other parts too will have to scale down their growth projections for the coming fiscal as tour groups from the US and Europe have began en masse cancellations.

Finding a way out
CHENNAI: International Travel House Ltd (ITH) will focus on the domestic leisure segment to beat the downturn in the tourism industry.

Source:Business Line